Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Directed by

Stanley Kubrick

Genre

drama film, war film

Country

United Kingdom, United States

Runtime

1h 56m

Rated

R

Rating

8.1 of 10 from 11,553 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Marine recruits go through brutal boot camp training where an abusive drill instructor breaks them down. The story then follows one Marine as a combat journalist during the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War.

intensebleakbrutalgrittyunsettlingausterecolddeliberately paced

What happens

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay he co-wrote with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 autobiographical novel The Short-Timers. It stars Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Dorian Harewood, and Arliss Howard. The storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their boot camp training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. The first half of the film focuses primarily on privates J. T. Davis and Leonard Lawrence, nicknamed "Joker" and "Pyle" respectively, who struggle under their abusive drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half portrays the experiences of Joker and other Marines in the Vietnamese cities of Da Nang and Huế during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by military servicemen. Full Metal Jacket was theatrically released in the United States on June 26, 1987, by Warner Bros., and in the United Kingdom on September 11, 1987. It was the last of Kubrick's films to be released during his lifetime. The film grossed $120 million against a budget of $16.5–30 million and received positive reviews from critics. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards, while Ermey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance. In 2001, the American Film Institute placed the film at number 95 in its poll titled "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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